‘Gilmore Girls’: Why Did the Gilmores Like Christopher So Much?
The heart of Gilmore Girls was always the relationship between single mom Lorelai and her precocious teen daughter, Rory. But of course, Rory had a dad too. Christopher was a shaky presence in her life, dropping in and out randomly.
But despite this, Lorelai’s parents, Richard and Emily Gilmore, seemingly adored him and never gave up hope that he and their daughter would end up together. What did they see in Chris, and was Lorelai missing out?
Christopher was the golden boy to Emily and Richard
According to ScreenRant, Christopher was always a favorite of Richard and Emily. The reason for their admiration was as simple as it was shallow. He was from the same world as they were, so he was wealthy, connected, and socially acceptable. When Lorelai got pregnant with his daughter, her parents wanted the couple to get married, despite the fact that they were only 16.
In the first season of Gilmore Girls, Christopher made one of his rare appearances in Rory’s life. He rode into town on his motorcycle, ready to impress his daughter and anyone else who might be watching. But despite his moneyed background and flashy life, Christopher wasn’t as impressive as he wanted people to think he was.
Not a great dad or partner
Despite Emily and Richard’s affection for Christopher, he had some significant negative traits. As Hello Giggles points out, he was only 16 when Rory was born, so it’s understandable that he wasn’t an involved father or partner. But in the years after her birth, he had plenty of time to step up and be a supportive dad.
When he finally did come back into their lives and attempted to rekindle a relationship with Lorelai, it didn’t go well. He went back and forth between Lorelai and his ex Sherri. When he learned he got Sherri pregnant and ended up raising the baby on his own, he had the nerve to complain to Lorelai about how hard it is to be a single parent.
Even when he showed up on his motorcycle in the first season, he wasn’t everything he seemed to be. He was in a financial crisis, which became clear when his credit card was declined.
But no matter how many times he made it clear exactly who he is, Richard and Emily never really stopped being his fans. Their devotion really said more about who they were and what they valued, but viewers thought it was weird.
Fans think the Gilmores’ affection for Christopher is “so gross”
Whenever Christopher came around, and Richard and Emily could be there, they did everything they could to encourage a relationship between him and Lorelai. But as fans pointed out on Reddit, the fact that they even liked him after everything that had happened wasn’t a good look.
“Yeah, I just watched the pilot, and how much Richard likes Chris is so gross,” one person said. “Even if he isn’t married to Lorelai, he can stay close and be an involved father, but he chose to go to California. That’s abandoning your kid. Not cool.”
“I just watched the episode where he comes back. He’s so useless. It’s clear he doesn’t know Rory at all,” another agreed. “I also don’t understand why they act like his life was derailed by Rory. He wasn’t even there! How much could a kid you did literally nothing for really derail your life? Lorelai’s life was derailed, but she was actually doing the parenting thing. What was Chris doing?”
More than once during the series, Richard and Emily made it clear why Lorelai left to raise Rory on her own. Their continued approval of Christopher is just one more example of why she couldn’t trust them.
